Culture First: 9 Leadership Practices That Build Elite Teams

Build the Culture That Drives Elite Performance

"Jon Becker is a national treasure." —John Dowd, Former Navy SEAL, Founder of Forge SOFware

Why do some teams perform at an elite level while others—given the same resources, training, and talent—struggle?

The answer isn't strategy, talent, or technology. It's culture.

Culture is your organization's operating system. It determines how decisions get made, how people treat each other, and whether your best performers stay or leave. Get it right and everything else gets easier.

"Culture isn't a slogan—it's the operating system that drives standards, decisions, trust, and accountability under pressure." —Rich Diviney, Retired Navy SEAL Commander, Bestselling Author

What Elite Teams Know That Most Organizations Don't

For four decades, Jon Becker has had unusual access to organizations that cannot afford to fail—where the cost of poor leadership is measured in lives, not quarterly earnings.

What he discovered: the principles that build elite performance are universal.

Whether you run a SWAT team, a tech startup, a sales organization, or a sports program, the fundamentals are identical.

"Jon offers the lessons articulated herein with a rare level of credibility that makes Culture First an enduring work." —Brian Driscoll, Former Acting FBI Director

Nine Practices Any Leader Can Implement

• Build culture intentionally — because the default is dysfunction
• Develop selfless leaders — who place mission and team above ego
• Select the right people — protect culture through rigorous standards
• Embrace strong people — who challenge assumptions
• Enforce high standards — what you tolerate becomes your standard
• Collaborate deliberately — harvest the best thinking regardless of title
• Build a decision machine — push authority to where information lives
• Improve continuously — build systems that sustain excellence
• Take risks and embrace failure — learn without excuses

"Want your business to succeed? Build a great culture. In this book Jon Becker shows you how." —Pete Blaber, Former Delta Force Commander

Practical Tools, Not Theory

Each chapter delivers real stories, clear explanations, and "How to Start" sections with actions you can implement Monday morning.

"A 'must read' for every organization that strives for successful outcomes." —Michael Lumpkin, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense, Navy SEAL (Ret.)

"Jon is extraordinarily credible on building a high-performing team—the reason we have him present to our entire team." —Lt. Lee McMillion, Commander, LAPD SWAT

Elite teams don't happen by accident. If you want to build an organization capable of performing at the highest level, culture must come first.

Jon Becker founded AARDVARK Tactical at 17 and has spent nearly four decades in the tactical community, working with four generations of operators at the DOD, federal, state, county, and local levels of government. From municipal SWAT teams to military special operations and international counterterrorism units, Jon has equipped and trained alongside the pioneers who built LAPD SWAT, LA County Sheriff's SEB, and the NTOA. He describes his unlikely journey as "Tactical Forrest Gump."Jon is the creator of Project7 Armor, a recipient of the Spirit of the NTOA Award from the National Tactical Officers Association, and a columnist for Tactical Edge magazine. His work has been published in over a dozen magazines and professional journals. He has taught for both law enforcement and business organizations across North America. Jon hosts The Debrief with Jon Becker podcast, interviewing the world's top tactical leaders, and is a filmmaker who directed the documentary Confronting Hate: Responding to The Tree of Life Attack.A graduate of Loyola Law School and attorney admitted to practice in California, Jon is also a multi-time Ironman triathlete and race-winning sports car driver. He has been happily married since 1990 and has two children.